President Barack Obama made the right decision to keep photos of a dead Osama bin Laden out of the public eye as a release would have diminished the U.S. and elevated the terror kingpin, according to Qorvis Communications partner Greg Lagana.

Lagana, a former Foreign Service Officer and Bush White House aide from 2011-05, wrote in an op-ed in The Hill that the "pep-rally atmosphere" surrounding bin Laden's death was "inappropriate" and last Sunday was "not VJ Day."

And the Obama administration hasn't performed flawlessly on the PR front since bin Laden's death, he said.

Lagana blasted White House counterterrorism's "gloating, unqualified statements" as "an embarrassment" and knocked CIA director Leon Panetta for speculating the photos would be released before Obama announced his decision on "60 Minutes."